The Not So Incredible Shrinking Me

As many of my family and friends know, I had Gastric Banding on 3/23/06. At my max weight I was at 430lbs and as I weighed myself this morning I am 364lbs. This gives me a net loss of 66lbs since the surgery. Not to shabby, but also not what I want. Why am I revealing something so personal about myself to the world? That would be because I am tired of the stagnation. I effectively stopped losing weight at the beginning of July. This isn’t because the surgery failed, but because I have been cheating the system. I lost the lions share of the weight in the first 4 months, and have be bouncing around in the same ten pound range ever since then. After the initial change and restrictions of post surgery, I started to do the one thing that is a no no in this process. I began to consume sugar. That’s right, the Great Satan of body weight management. I do have the ability to consume less overall food than before, but the food choices are the problem. Cakes and candy and Arnold Palmers with sweetened lemonade, these are the things that are stopping me. But wait, these aren’t the only issues; I also have not been exercising. I was encouraged to walk, just walk after the surgery. I haven’t seriously done this. I do have a legitimate issue with pain in my hip, but it should be overcome and not used as an excuse. So I am cutting the sugar and I have begun to walk on my treadmill. Last night I did 12 minutes and broke a good sweat. I’m shooting for 15 minutes tonight, and my ultimate goal is 45 minutes 5 days a week. I will be posting regular weight loss updates and ask you to pray and ask me how things are going. I need the encouragement.

RAV